From his bawdy and brave fellow firefighters to the hopeful, hateful, beautiful and beleaguered residents of the poverty-stricken district where he works, Dennis Smith tells the story of a brutalising yet rewarding profession.
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I could have sworn I added this to my BookLikes bookshelf a few months back, but apparently not? Went to pull it up to tag on a review and found it was nowhere to be seen on my shelves here. Weird. Well, it's counted now ;-)
This is the memoir of Dennis Smith, who in the 1960s was a FDNY firefighter on Engine Co. 82, one of the busiest fire dept companies in the entire nation. Speaking of FDNY, if you ever wondered about the difference between FDNY and NYFD, Smith here does explain the history behind the distinction. Or you can read the quick explanation here.
Engine Company 82 served South Bronx, an area that during Smith's time had more homicides per square mile than anywhere else in the US. At the time of this book's original publication (1972), Smith had been a firefighter for 8 years. The time in which he served -- the violence, the instability of communities, the endless stream of fires and medical calls -- that time frame started being referenced simply as "The Bronx is burning." Even today, you say that line to a firefighter and odds are they'll know exactly what you're talking about (unless you happen to say it to a super young newbie). This book recounts the best, the worst, the most memorable of calls within those years and what those calls taught him.
This was a pick for a readathon I participated in awhile back where one of the challenge categories was to read someone else's favorite book. This is my husband's favorite (or at least one of them). He's referenced this book so many times since I met him years ago. Like anyone else, he likes to read stuff he can relate to, and being a firefighter himself he finds that the books of Dennis Smith really speak to him. Bit shameful that I've been with the guy 8 years now and I've only recently read this, but I guess the important thing is I did read it. And liked it! Obviously I couldn't have the same appreciation for it that my guy does, since I don't work in the field, my understanding only being developed vicariously through stories I hear or read. Still, I can still relate on the level of being the life partner of a firefighter and observing on a day to day basis what the profession does to them.
It is six o'clock. The evening is still bright, and I will work through the night, watching for the morning horizon all the while. In fifteen hours it will be 9am and I will be relieved of duty. Then I'm off for three days, but I will sleep through the first...I will relax, read Steinbeck or Mailer again, and practice the guitar..The night will come, and my biology will begin to function normally again after having been imbalanced by my work schedule. I will hold my wife, and love her furiously, knowing that she has been denied because she married a firefighter.
Smith really brings home just how hard a profession this truly is. He shares stories of dodging unstable people coming at him wielding whips, the amount of time that gets wasted attending to false alarms and trash fires (but you don't know it's nothing major til you get there, so you still have to go...), how he documented once that in a 3 month period he wasn't able to finish a single meal because of calls that kept coming in. Not. One. Single. Meal. In 3 months.
There are also stories of struggle with race and community relations, racism within the fire department (yeah, this guy doesn't sugar coat it, readers). Smith shares these stories in a chronological fashion, starting with his newbie days and the excitement that comes along with those early calls, working into a more seasoned approach to his job years later. He admits that over time those early visions of glamour and ideas of heroism that initially attract people to the profession inevitably wears off with time after time having to enter grimy, disgusting buildings to get to people, tragically losing friends or patients, having to be away from loved ones so much, etc. That's not to say he hates the job though. Far from it actually. His overall message is actually more along the lines that if you can be okay with the lousy end of it, the good bits hands down still make it one of the best jobs in the world.
... I was given the 3" chrome maltese cross that is the badge of a firefighter...It was a symbol of security and importance to me -- and it saved me the fare each time I rode a city subway or bus. It would act in place of a ticket in many of New York's movie houses -- it was always nice to have a firefighter in the house, a kind of cheap insurance policy -- and it represented a 10% discount in many of the city's shops and dept. stores. If stopped by a policeman after running a red light, or speeding, it usually meant that the cop would not write the ticket. It was a free meal in many of the best restaurants, as long as the meal was eaten in the kitchen, and a room at half price in the hotels if there was a girl friend.
Merchants were good to firefighters then, because they expected firefighters to be good in return as they made their annual, semi-annual, or monthly fire inspections. But, the system has changed now. Firefighters are perceiving themselves as professionals, and they perform inspectional duties with the diligence of a woodpecker pecking at a soft tree. Violation orders are written if the proper number of portable fire extinguishers are not hung on the walls of factories, and summonses are issued for locked exit doors. There is no bargaining for future discounts, and there are no promises of free merchandise. Firefighters know that a conscientious inspection can mean the difference between life and death. Souls are not sold anymore for a 10% discount, or a $2 movie ticket or a $10 dress for the wife.
If you're at all squeamish or sensitive to foul language or crude humor, this could be a tough read for you. For one thing, the book opens and closes with stories of children on fire that Smith was called to save. But that's the reality of the job, so I can appreciate Smith not trying to make his memoir all fluffy for the faint of heart. He does balance the more graphic portions with really amusing stories full of the kind of humor you can only experience among EMS workers (one such story involving monetary bets made on how many stitches certain injuries will require). Smith also explains that while many might find the humor off-color, it's not meant to be insensitive and actually does play a vital role in the firefighters being able to mentally manage what they have to see and experience on a daily basis.
While I really enjoyed the stories and appreciated how this book helped me understand my mister's profession better, the Lit. major in me did struggle a bit with Smith's actual writing style. His transitions can be awkward and jarring. There were also moments where he would sometimes go off on tangents where I wanted him to get back to the previous, more interesting topic. Even so, I highly recommend this one for anyone currently or formerly involved with fire service, interested in going into it, anyone involved with someone involved with fire service... just anyone, really. It's a powerful read!
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